Rightful Owner
by bashfulglowfly
Summary: Nephrite brings something to King Endymion that was hidden more than a lifetime ago.
1. Chapter 1

Returned to Owner

By Bashfulglowfly

Nephrite dreamed…

_He was in his room, reading, when there was a sudden frantic pounding on his door._

_He knew no one would dare attack one of the Shitennou while he was in the Castle of the High King, but he was still cautious when he opened the door._

_On the other side were several of Queen Gaia's handmaidens. Two held a trunk between them and three others were each carrying a painting._

"_What…"_

_One of the older handmaidens interrupted him, "Please Lord Nephrite, you must hide these from the King!"_

"_Why?"_

_The women openly sobbed but pushed their way past him. Another spoke through her tears. "The Queen is dead."_

_Nephrite reeled at the news. _Queen Gaia? Dead? But she had a simple cold…

"_The King has gone mad in his grief and has ordered her belongings and anything with her semblance destroyed. These were all that we could save before his men confiscated everything. Please hide them and keep them for Prince Endymion."_

_Nephrite's mind was racing but he nodded. The handmaidens laid down their burdens and fled his room._

_He knew he wouldn't be able to tell Endymion, let alone the others. He knew how King Terran behaved in one of his rages. And this would be the Rage of all Rages._

_He had plans to make…_

…"_Thank you for trusting me, Grandson."_

"_There is no question of your honesty, Grandfather." Nephrite bowed his head to the man who was not only his grandfather but the Shaman of their tribe._

"_We will place them in the furthest of the Sacred Caves. King Terran will not dare to enter those."_

_Nephrite nodded. "And when the time is right, I'll retrieve them and bring them back to Endymion."_

"_That won't be for a very long time."_

"_Grandfather?"_

_The older man reached out and cupped Nephrite's face. "Citlali," Nephrite's eyes opened wide at his Grandfather's use of his Real Name. "The future…the stars are giving me too many paths. I cannot tell you what is going to happen."_

"_Grandfather…"_

_The Shaman shook his head and patted Nephrite's cheek. "Be good. Be honest. Stand by your prince."_

"_Yes, sir."_

"_You must return to his side."_

"_Grandfather…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I love you."_

_The old man's weathered face crinkled into a smile. "I love you too, my boy, so very much."_

Nephrite woke from his dream.

And took a deep breath.

He hadn't stood by his prince. And his betrayal of Endymion still stung Nephrite at times. Even though he'd been forgiven by Endymion, Serenity and his beloved Jupiter.

He glanced down and then slowly slid out of bed, careful not to disturb his sleeping wife.

He walked to the windows and waved a hand to turn the opaque windows to transparency.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the sea.

"Neph?"

He turned to his bleary-eyed wife. "I have to make a trip."


	2. Chapter 2

Nephrite directed the servants to place the items onto the floor of Serenity and Endymion's private sitting room. Then, with a smile and nod, he dismissed them.

Endymion eyed the chest and 3 blanket wrapped objects. "What are those?"

"Something that belongs to you."

Endymion raised an eyebrow at the Knight of Intelligence and Comfort. "I don't remember those."

"You wouldn't. I hid them from your father more than a lifetime ago."

"My fa…King Terran?"

"Yes."

"You've had this hidden since the Golden Kingdom?" Serenity's voice was filled with awe. "Why?"

"Dymion's mother, Queen Gaia, died…"

Zoicite interrupted "We were told it was from a cold. I've always had my doubts about that."

"What?" Endymion looked at him in shock.

"That was not long after Beryl came to Court. She tried to become one of the Queen's handmaidens but failed. Then she began sniffing around you. The Queen was going to have her banished, but she died before she could do that."

"I don't remember…"

Kunzite interrupted. "Because about that same time you met Serenity and were sneaking off to see her every chance you could."

"Okay, back to this stuff Nephrite's been hiding. How did you get your hands on them?" asked Venus.

"Queen Gaia's handmaidens brought them to me. They begged me to hide them from the King and his men."

Endymion rubbed his head. "I remember. Father ordered all of Mother's belongings to be destroyed. I was away from the Castle when she died. When I returned all, I managed to save was her favorite pocket watch but that was it." He looked at Nephrite. "You hid this? Where?"

"In the mountains where I was born, back then, there are a series of Sacred Caves that only Shaman could enter. I had my grandfather put them there. And because of…things…I forgot about them until now."

"What happened to the handmaidens?" asked Mars.

Kunzite replied "I was able to get two of them out of the Castle and into my homelands, but I wasn't able to save the others. King Terran had them imprisoned and they died there."

Jadeite twitched.

"Jade?"

"Well, they didn't die. They just _looked_ like they died." Said the illusionist.

"You sneaky bastard."

Jadeite shrugged and grinned. "I did what Kunzite did, sent them to my people."

Mercury looked at the items then at Endymion. "Do you want to open them in private?"

"No. I want all of you around."

Endymion stood, walked over to the bundles and pulled out a dagger. He cut away the ropes that held the coverings closed. The coverings turned out to be blankets of many colors and patterns.

Jupiter gasped in appreciation. "These blankets by themselves are priceless. We need to be careful with them." She carefully folded them and set them aside.

The three bundles revealed themselves to be paintings.

"I remember these." Breathed Endymion. He touched one. "This is of my mother when she turned sixteen. And this one was my parents wedding portrait. And this was painted when I was five."

The first painting showed a young woman with dark hair and eyes sitting in a chair. The second showed the same slender woman sitting in another chair and a tall, broad man with blond hair and blue eyes standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder. In the third, the couple was now joined by a young boy.

Serenity wrapped her arm around her husband's waist. "You have your father's eyes, but you look like your mother."

Endymion nodded. "Father was not happy about my build. He kept trying to get me to bulk up but…"

Kunzite snorted softly. "He didn't know anything about genetics. Didn't want to."

"Well, I'm still the same." Endymion turned his attention to the chest. It was slightly dirty. He could tell Nephrite cleaned it off somewhat, but it looked the same as it did when it had been in his mother's chambers.

He opened the lid.

The contents inside were jumbled together. It was obvious that they had been put into the chest with haste instead of care.

Gently the King and Queen reached in and began removing items, handing them to the Senshi and Shitennou to help untangle the mess.

Finally, it was sorted out. It was mostly jewelry. There were a couple of books, documents, letters and some miniatures.

Serenity gasped as she looked closer at one of the miniatures, "This one is of the two of us, Dymion! See!"

Endymion gently took it from her. "She knew. About you and me. She knew." Serenity ran her fingers through his hair. "It looks like her wedding portrait. Somehow, she knew there wouldn't be an official one made. At least at that time."

Mercury gently opened then books. "Poetry." She smiled. "May I read these and return them to you?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. These books should go into the Rare Books section of the Library. Although, I'd like to copy them and make the copies available for the public. And the blankets should go straight to the museum for display. People other than us should know about the Golden Kingdom."

"I agree on the books." Endymion looked at Nephrite. "It's your decision on the blankets."

Without know that he'd done it, Nephrite had pulled one of the blankets onto his lap and was stroking it gently. "This was woven by my mother. Her name was Citlalic. It meant Rising Star."

"You were Named after her." Said Jadeite softly.

"Yeah."

"Named?" Mars was clearly puzzled.

Jadeite kissed her temple. "Back in the time of the Golden Kingdom, Neph's people and mine gave children a public name then a Real Name. Real Names had Power. You did not give someone your Real Name lightly."

"Oh." Clearly Mars wanted to ask what Nephrite's Real Name was but refrained.

"Give the blankets to the museum. I'll give you the names of the other weavers. They should have recognition even if it's been thousands of years since they lived."

Endymion looked at the jewelry. "I want to share this with all of you."

Venus gasped. "Endymion! Are you sure?"

He smiled. "I know my mother would appreciate it being worn by you. These are meant to be seen and appreciated. Not hidden away."

There were murmurs of thanks as the women sorted through the jewelry. Quietly the majority was left to Serenity, but the others took pieces that were their signature colors. Serenity put aside several other pieces. "I'll give these to the Outers. I'm sure they'll like them."

Endymion turned to his second oldest Shitennou. "Thank you, Neph. For bringing me something from my past."

Nephrite clasped Endymion's forearm. He knew that it occasionally hurt the other man that he had so few memories and memorabilia from any of his lifetimes.

"You're welcome." Nephrite held his hand out to Jupiter who used it to pull herself to her feet. That caused the Senshi and Shitennou to take their leave of their King and Queen and allow Endymion time to absorb everything.

As they walked hand in had to their rooms, Jupiter stood on her toes and kissed Nephrite's cheek. "You're a good man for hiding those then bringing them to him."

Nephrite could feel the color rising on his cheeks as he shrugged. "All I did was return them to their rightful owner."

888888

Citlali (Aztec) meaning Star


End file.
